Two brand new 'Armed' ice breaking rescue and salvage vessels for Russia are ready at Nordic Yards in Germany.

Two brand new 'Armed' ice breaking rescue and salvage vessels for Russia are ready at Nordic Yards in Germany. (BarendObserver).

The two identical vessels are icebreakers of the second highest ice class, suitable for rescue operations in harsh environments. They can be used both for icebreaking operations in harbors and waters with an ice thickness of 1m as well as for fire-fighting and combating oil spills from the sea.

“Beringov Proliv” will be based in the Sakhalin region, while “Murman” will be based in Murmansk, the shipyard says in a press release.

The vessels can study the ocean floor and damaged objects at depths of up to 1,000m. Furthermore, they are equipped with a helipad on the bow.

The Russian Federal Marine and River Transport Agency and German shipbuilder Nordic Yards in December 2012 signed a contract for the construction of two icebreaking rescue and salvage vessels to operate in Russian Arctic waters. The total volume of the orders was €150 million. Hmmm.....Russia has already a large fleet of Ice breakers, now they're getting armed ones. I Hope that Canada takes notes.

HT And Source:

These might be the icebreakers 'with guns' Germany recently delivered to Russia. http://t.co/dFlmFYS5iQ #Mistral pic.twitter.com/RDzVxX50Du

— Ukraine@war (@DajeyPetros) August 10, 2015

@moscow_ghost Für Russland wurden zwei Eisbrecher mit militärischer Schutzausstattung genehmigt. http://t.co/rB87PQgGr6

— MFS - The Other News (@MFS001) August 10, 2015

Related:

US Coast Guard still wrangling with Only one 'retired' heavy ice breaker.

Russian nuclear build heavy ice breaker Yamal.

US Coast Guard still wrangling with Only one 'retired' heavy ice breaker. (Janes).

As human activity in the Arctic continues to expand, the chief of the US Coast Guard (USCG) remains concerned about the nation's limited ice-breaking capability and is continuing to advocate for recapitalising its obsolete fleet of heavy ice breakers.

"This is not a coastguard unique challenge. It's a global access challenge that requires a national solution," Admiral Paul Zukunft, commandant of the USCG, said on 24 February in his annual state of the coastguard address.

Polar-class USCGC Polar Star (WAGB 10), a 39-year-old cutter that has been reactivated, remains the United States' sole heavy ice breaker, with sister ship USCGC Polar Sea (WAGB 11) laid up in disrepair. The 16,000-tonne medium ice breaker USCGC Healy (WAGB 20) is also in service.

Demand for ice-breaking capability is only growing, as several recent cases have demonstrated, the commandant noted. Polar Star in mid-February steamed 900 miles and broke through 150 miles of ice to rescue a 207-ft fishing vessel, Antarctic Chieftan , hailing from New Zealand with 26 crew members, that had become stranded in the southern polar region. "Ponder that for a minute, what a truly spectacular rescue and what would happen if we weren't there," Adm Zukunft said. "What concerns me even more is that the United States has no rescue capability whatsoever had it been Polar Star who suffered a catastrophic [mechanical] casualty and become beset in ice."

A study commissioned by the USCG to assess the United States' future ice breaker requirement concluded that a fleet of three heavy and three medium ice breakers would fulfill the needs for operating in the polar regions.

Enticing shipbuilders to help on a new ice breaker also has been difficult. "When you try to incentivise a shipyard to building an ice breaker, most shipyards will not make the front-end capital investments to build one ship of one type. So there's been an expressed need for more than one ice breaker," Adm Zukunft told reporters.

USCG officials have been arguing for a 'whole-of-government' approach to funding a new ice breaker for some time, but the idea has yet to gain traction with US agencies with a vested interest, such as the Department of Defense, which also is struggling with its own budgetary problems.

To keep up with the burgeoning activity in the Arctic, the USCG is weighing options for bolstering its ice-breaking capability in the near term, including leasing ice breakers, reactivating Polar Sea , and possibly pursuing new ship acquisition. Hmmmm......Meanwhile the Russians have 6 heavy nuclear powered icebreakers, 7th is being build, and the have 39 diesel powered ice breakers. Good luck defending the arctic from Russia's appetite.China has 2 heavy ice breakers and one more coming in to service next year.Read the full story here.

Russian Bear Flexing it's muscles in the Arctic.

Russian Bear Flexing it's muscles in the Arctic. (MT).

Russia's new Northern Command became operational on Monday, as the country's claims to an expansive share of the Arctic — and its potential economic benefits — become increasingly militarized. First Deputy Defense Minister Arkady Bakhin spoke for the government as a whole last year when he said that "we have come [to the Arctic], and we'll stay there forever. This is the beginning of a big journey."

But despite Russia's expansion and modernization of its forces in the region, it is impossible to meaningfully occupy a shrinking ice cap. Instead, this is one more expression of Russia's new strategy: asserting leverage in the modern world by being the global extortionist.

Even before Vladimir Putin's return to the presidency and the more assertive nationalism that he has brought to the Kremlin, the High North was becoming something of a strategic priority. This reflects not just its potential reserves of oil and gas, but also the commercial polar shipping lanes that are being opened up by the retreat of the ice cap.

Already, the Arctic directly or indirectly accounts for 20 percent of Russia's GDP and as the economy comes under pressure from external forces, the incentive to develop new opportunities will only grow.

Now, according to some reports, the Kremlin is considering setting up a new ministry for Arctic development, following Putin's call earlier this year for "a unified center of accountability for the implementation of Arctic policy."

Moscow has long claimed large portions of the Arctic, claiming that the underwater Lomonosov and Mendeleyev ridges demonstrate that Russia's continental shelf extends far beyond its current 320-kilometer territorial waters. The proposed change would bring an extra 1.2 million square kilometers into Russia's grip with, according to Natural Resources Minister Sergei Donskoi, at least 5 billion tons of new oil and gas reserves.

This all remains in question, but in 2007 the Arktika expedition both demonstratively planted a Russian flag on the seabed at the North Pole and claimed to have found proof of these claims.

However, the Kremlin is not just relying on scientific reports and legal claims. Instead, there is an increasingly strong military dimension to Russia's presence.

The new Northern Command responsible for the Arctic will subsume the Northern Fleet, and there is a growing naval presence in the region. Last year the nuclear-powered missile cruiser Peter the Great led a squadron of 10 warships and four nuclear-powered ice breakers to the New Siberian Islands.

Indeed, Russia's icebreaker fleet is a particular "ice-power" asset: It is the world's largest and includes the massive nuclear-powered vessel 50 Years of Victory. Beyond that, Russia is constructing a chain of 10 Arctic search-and-rescue stations that, along with its 16 deepwater ports, are intended to consolidate Russia's authority over the Northern Sea Route, which Putin has said may prove even more important than the Suez Canal in shaping global shipping flows.

Long-range air patrols have also been stepped up, and a new, year-round airbase is being built in the New Siberian Islands Archipelago between the Laptev and East Siberian seas to support an even greater presence. This is only one of the 13 new airfields and bases being built, as well as 10 air-defense radar stations.

All this will also permit the use of larger and more modern bombers. By 2025, the Arctic waters are to be patrolled by a squadron of next-generation stealthy PAK DA bombers, but even now cruise missile-armed Tu-95MS and Tu-160 bombers can cover the polar region. Read the full story here.

Canadian PM Harper at G20 tells Vladimir Putin to 'get out of Ukraine'.

Not exactly John Wayne...but 'True Grit'.

Canadian PM Harper at G20 tells Vladimir Putin to 'get out of Ukraine'. (CBC).

Stephen Harper had a showdown with Vladimir Putin on Saturday, telling the Russian leader to "get out of Ukraine" in a dustup at the Group of 20 summit in Australia.

Harper's spokesman, Jason MacDonald, said the prime minister was speaking to a group of G20 leaders at a private leaders' retreat on Saturday morning when Putin approached and extended his hand.

MacDonald said Harper told Putin: "I guess I'll shake your hand but I have only one thing to say to you: You need to get out of Ukraine."

According to MacDonald, Putin did not respond positively. He didn't provide further details.

But a spokesman for the Russian delegation said Putin's response was: "That's impossible because we are not there."

Harper and the leaders of the world's top economies began the annual summit in a tense atmosphere dominated by Western anger towards Putin and pressure to address climate change, fight Ebola and kickstart economic growth.

A senior government source had earlier stated that Harper had no intention of talking to Putin during the summit, noting the Russian leader was well aware of Canada's position on his aggression in Ukraine. That changed when Putin approached his Canadian counterpart.

Harper has been a vehement Putin critic for months, with Canada and Russia trading a number of retaliatory sanctions.

He recently condemned the "continued penetration of Russian presence in eastern Ukraine and obvious actions to extend and provoke additional violence. That's of great concern to us." Read the full story here.

Canada Ready to Use Force Against Russia in the Arctic – Canadian Foreign Minister

I hope Canada has more then a Rubber boat to back up their claim.

Canada Ready to Use Force Against Russia in the Arctic – Canadian Foreign Minister. (RN).

Canada is concerned about Russia’s military expansion in the Arctic and is ready to defend its interests in the region using military force, John Baird, Canadian foreign affairs minister, told the Berlingske newspaper Monday.

“We are deeply worried and ready to promote and protect Canada’s sovereignty in the Arctic. It’s a strategic priority for us. When it comes to militarization, we would prefer to de-escalate the conflict, but it is clear that we may protect our sovereignty by force,” Baird told the newspaper.

All Arctic coastal states are currently limited to their exclusive economic zones of 200 nautical miles. However, portions of the Arctic Sea region are in dispute for their shipping and natural resource potential. The melting of the region’s sea ice has opened the possibility for further exploration of petroleum reserves in the area.

The Ukrainian crisis has affected cooperation in the Arctic, with Norway, the United States, Canada and Denmark all imposing sanctions on Russia, which reciprocated with a food import ban. In April, Canada announced it would skip Arctic Council meetings in Moscow due to Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

"Reset" - Russian submarines outfitted to break thick Arctic ice.

"Reset" - Russian submarines outfitted to break thick Arctic ice.(RBTH).

By 2016, Russian submarines will have the ability to cut through thick, Arctic ice without damaging the ship’s housing during rapid surfacing, thanks to a new design that puts advanced technology on the boats.

The new technology for the submarines will allow subs to quickly surface for Arctic missions or to rescue the crew in case of an accident, according to the Central Design Bureau for Marine Engineering in charge of the new submarine design.

Current submarine design does not allow the ship to break the ice to emerge quickly without damage to the housing. Igor Kurdin, the former commander of the nuclear submarine Yekaterinburg and the chairman of the St. Petersburg Submariners' Club, said that to exit the boat on a surface covered by ice, there are two ways: surfacing without at a very slow speed or, as an extreme case, on-the-go breaking the ice with the ship’s housing.

"Surfacing on-the-go is fraught with injuries to the housing, sliding devices, sonar system and torpedo tubes. Today cases of ice breaking on-the-go are unknown, but surfacing without speed is a regular maneuver often used,” Kurdin said.

Before surfacing in normal mode, the boat "hangs" in the water, and then begins to rise very slowly - the rate of several centimeters per minute, he said. To ensure a safe ascent while moving, the wheelhouse and the bow of the boat have to be strengthened, since these parts take the blow.

 The new additions will have management software that searched for the thinnest area of ice, as well as an apparatus that works to clear the housing of ice fractures from the deck as the ship rises. Kurdin said that missile silos, the most important strategic parts of the submarine, are often enclosed by ice while surfacing, so the new design should solve this problem.

"Surfacing from the ice is done for only one purpose - for the application of nuclear missile attack from a surface position. This is done only in the Arctic regions. After surfacing when people come on deck, the whole deck is in huge blocks of ice," Kudrin said.

Russian military returns to the Arctic.

Russian military returns to the Arctic.(RBTH).

Russia will send a military force to be set up in the Artic next year in order to actively explore the promising region and use all possible channels to protect its security and national interests, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with senior military commanders on Dec. 10.

This year Russia began restoring seven airfields in the Arctic, which had been left abandoned after the break-up of the Soviet Union. By the end of the year it will put contracts in place to refurbish two more airfields, the president said.

Putin thanked all those who had taken part in restoring the Russian military base on the New Siberian Islands between the Laptev Sea and the East Siberian Sea. That archipelago, according to him, is "crucial for monitoring the situation throughout the Arctic."

Putin's statement came a week after the prime minister of Canada ruled to include the North Pole into Ottawa's seabed claim to be filed with the UN Commission on the Law of the Sea.

In addition, according to the Canadian media, Ottawa intends to hold large-scale research of the Arctic Ocean seabed near the Lomonosov Ridge, an underwater ridge of continental crust running from Canada and Greenland via the North Pole towards the New Siberian Islands.

The territorial dispute around the Lomonosov Ridge, which involves Russia, Canada and Denmark, is of key importance when it comes to the possible extension of the exclusive economic zone of each of these countries.

Under the 1982 U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, the size of a country's exclusive economic zone (200 nautical miles from the coast) can be extended to 350 miles if the country in question provides sufficient evidence that the seabed beyond the 200-mile zone is a natural extension of its continental shelf.
The dispute is not so much for land itself, as for the oil and gas fields that may be found in the Arctic, although the economics of developing these fields in the adverse weather conditions of the polar region pose many questions.

Still, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, territories beyond the North Pole may contain up to 30 percent of the world's gas and 13 percent of the world's oil reserves. These reserves are essential for Russia to continue its long-term economic development.

In the estimates of the country's Ministry of Natural Resources, as of early 2012, Russia had enough oil and gas potential to meet its economic requirements just for the next 30 years.

Experts believe that it is the need to defend its economic interests in the Arctic and to ensure security for companies planning to work in the Arctic Ocean behind the Russian authorities' ambition to increase the country's military presence in the region.
According to military observer Dmitri Litovkin, there are no actual military threats for Russia in the Arctic, so the decision to deploy a military contingent there is aimed at removing future threats related to territorial disputes.
"The state is establishing a platform on which companies could develop mineral resources,” Litovkin said. “Only the state can guarantee, say, to Gazprom that it will be able to produce oil and gas on that territory undisturbed.

There are oilfields in the Arctic, like the Shtokman field that Russia and Norway have claims to; the strategically important Northern Sea Route from Europe to Asia, which needs to be controlled, passes through the Arctic; nickel supplies run through there too."

He went on to recall that last year the Russian government organized a series of expeditions to collect geological data to prove that the Russian continental shelf is an extension of the Lomonosov Ridge. 

"Those expeditions have proven that the Lomonosov Ridge is an extension of the Russian continental shelf, therefore the Russian border goes much farther into the ocean than originally thought. The United States, Canada and Greenland did not accept those findings because that seabed is rich in mineral resources that could be mined in future," Litovkin continued.
Overall, experts do not expect territorial disputes to grow into armed confrontation. "I don't think that things will go as far as military action, but the Russian leadership's thinking is the stronger Russia's military potential in the Arctic is, the fewer causes there are for a military conflict," said Aleksandr Khramchikhin, the deputy head of the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, as quoted by the Gazeta.ru news website.

Related

Russia won't give away North Pole - official

Putin orders Defense Ministry to focus on units' deployment in Arctic

The Arctic Future: Confrontation or collaboration?

The Arctic: Confrontation or collaboration? – Russia Direct.

The Arctic conference in Moscow, “The Arctic: Region of Development and Cooperation”, which was organized by the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC) and the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of World Economy and International Relations (IMEMO) on Dec. 2-3, brought together politicians, diplomats, academics, businessmen and environmentalists from the U.S., Russia, Canada and Europe.

Since the conference presented a unique opportunity to address common challenges in the Arctic and foster cooperation between countries, the organizers of the conference as well as most of the participants were optimistic about the future of the Arctic.

Arctic resources: Any competitors in sight for Russia?

“The Arctic region is a laboratory of new models for international collaboration that can be applied in other [less stable] regions,” said Andrey V. Kortunov, President of the New Eurasia Foundation and the General Director of the Russian International Affairs Council (RIAC).
Artur Chilingarov, the Russian President’s Special Envoy for International Cooperation in the Arctic and Antarctic, doesn’t see any reason for future confrontation in the Arctic.  A large number of conferences dedicated to the Arctic indicate that there is growing interest in bringing stability to the region and more cooperation, according to him. 
The Arctic conference in Moscow indicates that there are a lot of unresolved issues that “we need to negotiate,” Chilingarov told Russia Direct.
David Balton, Ambassador for Oceans and Fisheries at the U.S. Department of State, echoes his Russian counterparts.
“I see the United States and Russia as continuing to collaborate in the Arctic for the foreseeable future because the interests of both of our nations overlap very significantly: We both want a stable and peaceful Arctic that can develop and also where we can protect the environment. So, there are no major policy differences between the U.S. and Russia or the other Arctic states.”
The militarization of the Arctic: myth or reality?Read the full story here.